Shields
by Satan Abraham
Summary: For a moment, most of his shields were down. [howard/edilio] [oneshot] [rated t for language]


A couple of nights after the fire, Howard stood in front of Edilio's place, hands deep in his pockets and a scowl on his face. He hunched his shoulders and glanced up, wondering if he should knock or just go home.

Eventually, he reached out and knocked. His knuckles made a hollow sound on the wood and he winced.

After a few minutes of waiting, Howard was about ready to turn around and leave, but then Edilio opened the door. "Howard?" he asked. He looked like he'd just gotten up. Howard felt bad for him for a second, then got over it. He had bigger things to worry about than a sleep-deprived Edilio Escobar.

He did feel a little bad, and then shoved that under a rug of apathy that usually covered the part of his brain that concerned other people.

"Do you need something?" Edilio asked. Howard licked his lips and took a breath. "Is Orc freaking out again or something? Is Drake on the loose? Does Sam need me-"

"No," Howard said. "'s got nothing to do with Sam. Or Drake. Or Orc, really. I just-"

He swallowed. He wasn't even sure why he was here, really. Maybe it was because Edilio was just about the only person he respected anymore, even if that respect was shoved under the apathy rug as well. Maybe it was because he had nowhere else to go.

Edilio was shifting from foot-to-foot, but his inherent goodness was stopping him from slamming the door in Howard's face. Howard appreciated it.

"I need someo- somewhere to go," Howard said. "I can't take it back there right now, and I need to-"

"You were about to say someone," Edilio said. Howard flinched. Usually words were his strong point, but right now he could barely string a sentence together without fucking up what he had to say.

"Nope," Howard said. He managed a half-grimace and turned to leave. "Never mind. I'll-"

Edilio caught his shoulder. "Come in," he said. It sounded more like a command than a request. Howard wondered just when Edilio had gotten that self-confidence to order him around. Even if he didn't have Orc physically there, it had used to be…

That didn't matter. It was the FAYZ now, and thinking about the past would just make him sad.

Edilio sat him down in a chair, keeping one hand solidly on his shoulder the entire time. Once Howard was sitting, he shrugged Edilio away and gave him a wry grin. "So," he said.

"So, you're the one who came here, what do you need?" Edilio said. Howard raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Woah there, a little snappy, aren't we?" he said. The grin flashed across his face again for a second, and then it was gone. He deflated into the chair, (most) defenses down for those precious few moments. "I can't stop thinking about it."

"About what."

"_Everything _that's been going on. Orc, the fire, _Drake_… it's all so fucked up, and it's-" Howard cut himself off. "Christ, why am I telling you this?"

"I don't know, why did you come to my door when I should be sleeping?" Edilio asked. Again Howard wondered at the snappishness. He guessed it was the 'waking him up at one of the few times he actually got to sleep in his own bed' thing.

Howard decided that it had been stupid to come in the first place. He didn't know why he'd decided to – maybe it was because of that scene after the fire, when he'd lost it and Edilio had been there. But then Edilio's shields had been down too, hadn't they? There was no reason to assume that now… now it would be the same. He'd been stupid to come. He'd been out of his mind, tired, hungry… and he'd been stupid.

He stood up to leave, ignoring the fact that Edilio was still standing over him. Their heads collided temporarily and Howard spat out a curse before shoving him aside. Edilio grabbed him around the neck and took him to the ground, pressing an arm to his throat with his knees straddling Howard's stomach. Howard cursed again, wriggled, and found a difficulty in breathing.

"Get…" He wheezed. "_Off."_

Edilio looked down at him with a calculation in his eyes that made Howard nervous. Edilio took the arm off of his throat, which was a relief, because now he could cuss out Edilio while Edilio decided whether to break his nose or take out a few teeth, but then Edilio kissed him.

Howard made a noise in the back of his throat and felt his face grow hot. Edilio's head shot up immediately, and Howard had never been so glad for his dark skin. It hid the blush a hell of a lot better than it would have otherwise.

"Sorry," Edilio said. He got off of Howard and turned away. "Didn't – didn't mean to do that."

Howard, finally in charge of the situation and with a solid thing to do, propped himself up on his elbows and grinned lazily. "Really, wetback? I should have guessed when I saw how you look at Sammy Boy."

Edilio didn't look at him. Howard pushed himself to his feet and advanced, that lazy grins twisting into smirk. "Come on. Do it again."

Edilio did look at him like that, though it was look of utter disbelief. "You're kidding."

"Nah, I'm not," Howard said. "Come on. Go for it."

Edilio took a deep breath, and then his hands were on Howard's face and his mouth was on Howard's mouth. Howard tensed up a little – he hadn't exactly expected him to _do it, _but he had, and the experience wasn't actually unpleasant at all. Edilio kissed him and he kissed Edilio back. It lasted a few moments, and then Edilio moved away. He studied Howard as though he expected Howard to turn into something likable after being kissed.

Eventually, he spoke. "Are you going to freak out again, or can I go back to sleep now?"

Howard smirked. "Can I join you?"

* * *

><p><strong>I thought it would be fun to round out a week of oneshots with some HowardEdilio. I kind of tend to go between this and Soul Friends when I'm writing oneshots that aren't requested.**


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